The Auburn softball team opened their season with two wins tonight, beating Southern Illinois 6-1 and North Carolina 8-1.
The Tigers started their day and season off strong against Southern Illinois, scoring six runs in 25 at-bats and only allowing one run in the third inning. Sophomore Chalea Clemmons made her first appearance as a pitcher for Auburn and performed quite well, throwing 52 pitches and only allowing two hits.
“Yeah, my first college turnout. It went really well. Malayna [Tamborra] started off really well, and I came in to finish, and then Haley [Rainey] came in to take over after me,” said Clemmons. “ And we're just so blessed to be out here today and we’ve got to give God all the glory.”
The Auburn defense played excellent against UNC, holding the Tar Heels to one run for the entire game. Redshirt sophomore pitcher SJ Geurin made her SEC debut, as she transferred to Auburn after two years at Oklahoma. Geurin pitched all seven innings of the second game and had four strikeouts and only gave up four hits on 107 pitches.
“I was just reminding myself that my defense has my back and that I have one of the best defenses in the country behind me,” said Geurin. “And I've got one of the best offenses behind me, knowing that one little run isn't gonna be a thing, that they're gonna come back and they have my back.”
In addition to the defense locking the UNC offense down, the offense also proved to be quite the powerhouse tonight. Not only did the Tigers have eight runs, but they also only had six strikeouts in 25 at-bats, proving effective and accurate in the batting box. Particularly standing out tonight was Icess Tresvik, batting .583 and ending the night with two hits, a home run, and three runners batted in. Tresvik said that the team has been working hard on batting in recent practices.
“Every day in the cages, we have two different machines. We have one that throws a different like a drop ball, like different heights, and then we also have another one that just throws it all over the place. So that kind of helps us prepare for when we're in these situations, like an 0-2 count or anything,” said Tresvik. “So that's really what Coach Chris has been preparing us for, but hopefully, we don't get in those counts and we can actually just get on base.”
Tonight’s victories had a special meaning to the team as it meant their two new head coaches, married couple Kate and Chris Malveaux, started their Auburn careers as a winning duo. Head coach Kate Malveaux spoke on how tonight’s wins felt as the new leaders of this organization.
“It was pretty great, but it was pretty great for the kids because they just worked their tails off. And sometimes you don't know what you're fighting for, and then now they see it,” said Malveaux. “So it was pretty awesome, and it was great to do it with Chris. So it was a great day all around.”
The softball team will be back in action tomorrow to finish up the latter half of the Tiger Invitational, playing Appalachian State at 10:00 am CST and taking a rematch against Southern Illinois at 12:30 pm CST.
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Jackie is a freshman majoring in Drug and Biopharmaceutical Sciences. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2024.
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